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From: franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams)
Newsgroups: net.politics.theory
Subject: Re: Re: The free market (and lemons)
Message-ID: <915@mmintl.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 18-Dec-85 21:52:19 EST
Article-I.D.: mmintl.915
Posted: Wed Dec 18 21:52:19 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 22-Dec-85 02:59:05 EST
References: <849@mmintl.UUCP> <28200390@inmet.UUCP>
Reply-To: franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams)
Organization: Multimate International, E. Hartford, CT
Lines: 28

In article <28200390@inmet.UUCP> janw@inmet.UUCP writes:
>>As I've argued before: just because the government in theory (or any
>>beneficent, disinterested, arms-bearing force) could "solve" this sort
>>of problem doesn't mean that the historical outcome will be a solution.
>>A powerful government bears all our own imperfections (in the 
>>transplant case, probably sloth, greed, and ignorance) magnified.
>
>This appears to be the proper generic rebuttal to *any* statist
>claims in the fields of health, education, welfare or the economy -
>in all areas, in fact, except defence and law-and-order.
>
>The reason these areas are different is that here the government,
>in protecting its own prerogatives (which all organizations tend to
>do), tends to defend the citizen. The same is true of any mafia godfather.

And the proper response to this generic rebuttal is to note that there
are many areas where the government has done a great deal of good.
Without the power of eminent domain, we would all be much poorer.  Public
road-building has done a great deal of good.  You may argue that private
roads could have done as well, but that is an unproven assumption.  In
fact, public roadbuilding took place because of a recognized need for
the roads, and a perceived inability of the private sector to provide
them.  The libertarian proposal is to build toll roads.  But for local
roads, the cost of collecting tolls probably exceeds the cost of building
and maintaining the roads.

Frank Adams                           ihpn4!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka
Multimate International    52 Oakland Ave North    E. Hartford, CT 06108